Godfather and godson stepped out of the flames and into Dumbledore's office. "Good afternoon Sirius, Harry." He smiled at the two of them pleasantly. The two of them greeted him back after which Dumbledore asked Sirius to take a seat on the opposite side of the desk and told Harry to go and take a seat on one of the plush armchairs that were located on the other side of the office. Harry looked at Sirius who gave him a reassuring nod and jerked his chin towards the other side. Harry reluctantly left his Godfather with Dumbledore and went off to where he was told.

It was clear that whatever Dumbledore wanted to discuss right now must be quite important considering the look of seriousness that was hidden by his smile and the customary twinkle in his blue eyes. "Sirius my boy, I am happy you could come over today on such short notice but what I need to ask of you is rather important." Sirius nodded his head for Dumbledore to continue. "I have an offer of sorts for you. To accept or reject it is completely up to you but I am hoping that you will accept it."

"Ok..."

"I was wondering if you would like to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts post this year. We are after all in need of a capable professor and you happen to be my very first option." Said Dumbledore. Him? Teaching a group of students? If he wasn't so stunned, he would've actually laughed himself silly. "Me? No offence Albus but are you alright? James and I were the most mischievous students to have roamed the school. We got more detentions in one year than most people did in seven years and now you want me to come back and teach? I really don't think I'm the best person for this job." The genial old man smiled like he had been expecting such a comment from his former student.

"I have absolutely no doubt in you my boy. After all, it is clear that you have simmered down over the years and are more than capable to take up this post. Do consider it." Said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling mirthfully.

Sirius thought about Dumbledore's words. It was true that he had become more responsible and serious (no pun intended) now thanks to Azkaban. Besides, if he took up the post, he would be able to be there for Harry when his godson needed him and the teaching part could be handled quite easily now that he thought of it. He could ask Moony to help him with the lesson plans. "I'll think about it."

"Wonderful." Said Dumbledore, leaning against the backrest of his chair. "Anything else?" Sirius asked Dumbledore. The old man shook his head so Sirius decided to wrap the meeting up. "Very well then. I'll take your leave now Albus." He stood up, went to where Harry was sitting, lost in thought and gently shook his godson's slight shoulder.

Harry, who had been sitting and thinking there, brimming with curiosity, was jostled out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go pup." He looked up to see Sirius smiling at him. "Yeah ok." Said Harry and they left the pristine office without further ado.

After that, as promised, Sirius took Harry to honeydukes where Harry picked up a lot more than just a few chocolate frogs and licorice wands. The main reason Sirius had wanted to take Harry out was because he silently wanted to observe how much his godson had opened up. During their previous outing, Harry had been so afraid and frightened that he had hardly spoken at all. But now, the observation hadn't disappointed Sirius as he saw the boy prancing around the store, his arms loaded with all sorts of goodies including a pack of Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans, acid pops, sugar quills, toothflossing springmints and of course, a dozen chocolate frogs.

Once Sirius was sure that Harry had enough candy for quite sometime, he saw that his godson's arms were loaded with some more, he gave Harry the look. They were in the middle of the summer and he didn't want his godson getting sick. "You'll end up with a bad stomach young man. Put those back." He instructed firmly. Harry pouted and gave his godfather the best puppy eyes that he could muster although he knew pretty well be now that Sirius wouldn't budge. When the only reaction he got from the Animagus was a gesture towards the shelves, resignedly, Harry placed the stuff that he had in his arms back where they belonged. He cheered up a bit though when he saw that they had picked up quite a lot.

The rest of the day passed quite quickly and Harry found himself in bed in no time at all. "Goodnight puppy. I love you." He said, kissing Harry's forehead and moving towards the door. "S-Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"I l-love you t-too." Sirius's heart soared with elation when he heard Harry say this. It was the first time Harry had reciprocated and he couldn't be any happier. "Love you pup." He said once again and walked out of the room.

"Sirius, why did Professor Dumbledore want to see you the other day?"

The question caught Sirius off guard. He hadn't expected Harry to bring that meeting up after a week. But then Harry was rather inquisitive nowadays. "That is between me and the headmaster only." Said Sirius, playfully tweaking Harry's nose. The latter huffed indignantly and crossed his arms, looking like a five year old who had been refused a toy. But then maybe the boy was simply bored.

It had been quite sometime since Harry had flown on his broom but the boy hadn't brought up the topic even once although Sirius had noticed the longing looks he would cast towards his broom which was always in his room, in a corner. Part of Sirius felt it was because Harry was still too afraid to ask for it. The man felt that maybe it was time to lift the restrictions he had placed on Harry's broom privileges.

"Harry, would you like to go out flying for a while until lunch?" He asked. His godson gave him a surprised look at this. "But it was... it was part of my punishment right?" He asked. "Have you learned your lesson?" A nod. "And you will never try something so reckless and foolish again?" He asked sternly, giving Harry his best I-mean-it look. Another vigorous nod. "Well then, I suppose a little flying won't hurt. I am letting you go out today on the condition that you will strictly remain within the wards and will not fly beyond a certain level. Are we clear Harry James?"

"Yes, sir." Replied Harry, not wanting to let his godfather down. "Good. In that case, you are free to go and fly." At these words, Harry all but flew upstairs and was back again with his Nimbus 2000 clutched in his hand. He was about to go out when he stopped abruptly, walked to where his godfather was leaning against the door and wrapped his arms around the tall man.

"Thank you Sirius." He said and once more Sirius was touched by the amount of kindness this eleven year old possessed. "Your welcome pup. Now off with you little mongrel." He said, pretending to shoo Harry away. The boy just laughed and went off to do the one thing that he had missed for so many days.

As Sirius sat down on his favourite armchair, like most people when left alone, he began to think about all the recent happenings that had occurred in his life. Having Harry around had proved to be absolutley wonderful. Sirius couldn't be any happier now that Harry had opened up almost fully. But then ten years of abuse couldn't be forgotten within a month. There were time when he had caught Harry trying to do jobs around the house and the look of innocence on his godson's face when he had been asked to not do any chores had shattered his heart. There were also times when Harry forgot where he was and every time he accidentally dropped something, his instinctive reaction was to back up against the wall or cover his head with his arms and start whimpering apologies. He was glad that Harry had started talking to Sirius more about what took place at the Dursleys'. Talking really helped and so every time Harry woke up from a nightmare, Sirius was always by his side, telling him that everything was alright. He would then pull the distraught child into his lap and comfort him as Harry slowly related the contents of his nightmare to his godfather. Sirius had become used to his godson's pattern of thought by now and knew exactly what reassurance the boy needed and when. Everything that Harry had told Sirius had nearly brought tears to the man's eyes. Being locked in the cramped cupboard, dizzy with hunger for almost days together, sentenced to endless chores and tasks way beyond the ability of a small boy and then subjected to cruel punishments and beatings if he failed to complete them.

Sirius had worked hard to make sure that Harry would move on and was pleased to see that it was all working. Every time his godson would grin at him, laugh heartily or give Sirius a sudden hug, the man knew that he would still be able to give Harry a proper and much deserved childhood. With all sorts of ideas for Harry's welfare going on in his brain, he realised that it was the twenty fourth of July today. Precisely a week before his godson's birthday. By now, Sirius knew the Dursleys pretty well and was ready to bet that those wretched souls had never given the child a proper birthday. But this year, Sirius Black would change that.

He immediately floo called Remus and asked him to come over. The werewolf had visited quite a few times so far and now Harry was starting to get comfortable with Remus. The two remaining Marauders sat down in the living room and planned Harry's very first proper birthday.

"Hi Remus." Said Harry as he walked into the house, his hair sticking up in every direction and his cheeks flushed due to the air. Sirius was thankful that they had finished their planning for he would've gone crazy of Harry had walked in when they had been debating over the party's menu. "Hello Harry. I see you've been enjoying yourself." Remus said to which Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Well them I'll leave you two alone. I had better get going." Remus said and what about to get up when Sirius firmly pushed him down. "You will stay for lunch and then you can wander off to wherever you want." It wasn't a question and Remus, who was accustomed to the Black Lord's stubborn attitude, gave in and stayed back.

"Moony, Harry, why don't you both go to the dining room? I'll join you'll shortly." Said Sirius and the aforementioned people walked off to the dining room. Harry practically ran since he was starving.

As Sirius watched the child, his child dragging Remus to the table, with a grin on his face, he knew that he, the famous Marauder would make sure that Harry would have a most memorable birthday indeed.